By JIM LUTGENS
Publisher
The NRHEG High School volleyball team finished the season last week with a pair of losses, but it wasn't easy. And the Panthers didn't go down without a fight.
On Tuesday, Oct. 16 they traveled to Mapleton to take on a strong Maple River crew and lost 3-1.
A turning point seemed to come in game one. The Panthers held a 16-13 lead when the Eagles with on an 8-0 run. NRHEG sided out and built a 22-21 edge, only to see the home team side out and go on to the 25-22 victory.
In game two, which the Panthers lost 25-17, they started slow and never seemed to get in a groove.
Game three saw the Panthers lead from start to finish, winning 25-22.
A slow start in game four resulted in a 25-20 loss.
Olivia Christopherson led the Panthers with 18 kills, 15 digs and 1 ace block while Laura Worrell provided 25 assists and added 8 digs. Others: Alexis Anderson 4 kills, 8 digs, 2 ace serves; Sophie Stork 2 kills, 1 dig, 2 assists; Caitlin Goette 4 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace block; Darian Pearson 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace block; Jayna Finseth 2 kills, 2 digs, 1 ace block; Sydney Schlinger 19 digs, 1 assist; Hannah Budach 6 assists, 4 digs, 2 ace serves.
The Panthers traveled to Waterville Monday, Oct. 15 to take on WEM in a match rescheduled because of weather. The high flying Bucs won 3-1, with game scores of 25-22, 25-8, 25-19.
"WEM has been a top ranked team in the state all season long," said Panthers coach Onika Peterson. "We, as a team, had set a goal, and the girls accomplished it in both game one and three. There were times throughout the night that we looked sluggish and that we were just going through the motions. We need to play with confidence and play up to our potential."
Individually: Christopherson 6 kills, 14 digs, 1 ace block, 1 ace serve; Anderson 3 kills, 4 digs, 1 ace serve; Goette 1 kill; Finseth 2 kills, 1 assist, 1 dig; Worrell 3 assists, 6 digs; Budach 6 assists, 3 digs, 1 ace serve; Schlinger 1 assist, 9 digs; Stork 1 assist, 1 dig; Cambria Nissen 2 digs; Pearson 1 ace block.
The Panthers finished the regular season 10-14-1 overall and 2-5 in the Gopher Conference. They begin sub-section play Monday, Oct. 22, hosting MLGHECT at 7 p.m.